Beyond Textbooks
By Cate Stoutt ’21
Sophomore Carina Veteri and Senior Cate Stoutt are on a mission to educate EC students about healthy relationships
Senior Class President
ONE LOVE
The One Love Foundation celebrates that love is the most important aspect in our lives, yet we are taught little about it. One Love is on a mission to educate young people about healthy and unhealthy relationships so they can identify and avoid abusive relationships. One Love teaches young people to love better. Yeardley’s death was preventable, and One Love’s mission is to make sure that it doesn’t happen to others. One Love educates students on these difficult conversations by offering powerful films viewed in a safe setting followed by group discussions. The One Love workshops aim to teach students the 10 signs of healthy and unhealthy relationships. In high school and as we transition to college, these signs are especially important to learn because as you meet new people, you want to surround yourself with those who will support you. One Love not only gives you the knowledge of what you should expect in a romantic relationship, but also what a healthy friendship and parent relationship should look like. I first found a passion for One Love last spring right before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The EC girls lacrosse team had the opportunity to attend the Escalation Workshop by One Love. The Escalation film that is viewed during the workshop shows a couple beginning a fast-moving, happy relationship that escalates into a toxic, abusive and unhealthy relationship. During this workshop, I began to realize how many times I had witnessed some of these unhealthy behaviors among high schoolers. I left the workshop feeling inspired to bring One Love to our student body because I felt that it could bring a culture change in our community. Although it can be difficult to talk about toxic, abusive, unhealthy relationships, they are real and become more common as we get older.
In 2010, University of Virginia lacrosse player Yeardley Love was killed by her former boyfriend in her senior year of college. In response to this tragic event, and to honor her memory, her family started the One Love Foundation.
In fact, one in three women, one in four men, and one in two trans-non-binary people experience sexual abuse in their lifetime. Some relationships can begin emotionally abusive and people do not realize what it can turn into as the relationship progresses. Through the One Love program, students learn the unhealthy emotional signs at the beginning of a relationship and have a safety plan to remove themselves from a relationship before it becomes violent. I believe our student body deserves this education. I am on a mission to educate students about love and get as many involved in One Love as possible. I am partnering with sophomore Carina Veteri and our club advisor Ms. McNesby to begin our club and educate our classmates. In the spring and over the summer, Carina and I became One Love facilitators and attended several One Love trainings to educate ourselves and become the best possible club leaders for our school. Due to COVID-19 and remote learning, we are creating a plan to host virtual workshops with small groups of students on the ten signs of a healthy or unhealthy relationship. There are many films by One Love that educate and teach different lessons on what love is and is not. The Escalation workshop is the heaviest and One Love asks that it not be viewed virtually because it can be hard to be alone during the film. Therefore, we are waiting until we can have small groups in person to make sure students are provided with the support they need. There are other One Love workshops we are hoping to hold virtually, including Couplets, Behind the Post, Love Labyrinth and Amor del Bueno. Carina and I are excited to bring this to our community! If you would like more information on the One Love Foundation, please visit their website joinonelove.org. EC MAGAZINE WINTER 2021
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